Misconception
by purbunhaze
Summary: Sato Arisu isn't strong, but she hate being weak. Arisu have always dreamed of playing basketball, but are unable to. When she gets the opportunity to join Seirin High basket club and meets an unnoticeable blue-haired boy and a crimson-haired giant: Her life couldn't get any better along with a goal to become number one in Japan.
1. Prologue: Introducing Sato Arisu

Before I gush about everything, let me introduce you to my first fanfic story: "Misconception"

For a very long time, I have admired a lot of authors on this website. How can they write a story over thousand words and continue despite years. Just, ugh, how do you guys do it? I have commitment-issues, seriously..

I love reading OC stories, even though stories like that are looked down upon. However, I do get why they aren't very likable sometimes. With a perfect person that is so pretty, so smart and so just perfect in every way: who really wants to read such a story? With this story, I decided to walk on the same path; make an OC story! (Please don't hate me, haha). But really, I hope I'll make a decent character that you guys won't pull your hairs off.

Before I keep talking (writing), enjoy reading "Misconception"!

**DISCLAIMER:** Kuroko no Basket belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi. Sato Arisu belongs to me.

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Prologue: Introducing Sato Arisu – The Girl With a Burning Love for Basket

Sato Arisu

Spring, the season representing the beginning of a new year. For Sato Arisu, it was the beginning of high school as a freshman.

She tries to walk to the entrance of the school. However, there are a lot of people crowding. She frowns at them and merely sighs. 'I'll just push my way through then', she thought. She starts pushing people, while muttering "sorry", on her way to the entrance. She could hear many clubs advertising and trying to get more members.

"Aren't you interested in rugby?!"

"Have you ever played shougi?"

"If you're Japanese then you should play baseball!"

"Swimming! It feels super!"

Arisu chuckle lowly when she hears them. It's quite amusing for her how enthusiastic they are. But she has no plans to join them. She has another club in her mind; the basket club. And she is determined to join it.

She tries to find the basket club, but she can't. '"Doesn't this school have a basket club?'", she muttered. Frankly, she was starting to get a bit annoyed the fact they may not have a basket club. But before she does anything, she runs into someone.

"Ow..", she said while rubbing her forehead. She looked up and saw this tall, red-haired giant before her. He has crimson colored eyes which were glaring right down at her. 'His body is pretty muscular for a high school', she confessed. She responded his glaring by glaring back. He didn't say anything. Was it something on her face? Arisu knows she is pretty plain. She has grey hair like an old lady and colorless eyes. Fine, it wasn't colorless. Her eyes had a hint of brown, but it looked colorless. People tend to get confused what eye color she really has. Arisu has been tempted to use circle lenses, just to give some color to her eyes. In the end, she never bothered to buy.

Still, what is he looking at?

He just scowled and walked away. A vein just appeared on Arisu's face. 'Okay, what's his problem..?', she annoyingly thought.

She turned around to see where he was walking from. She sees a table where two teenagers were sitting. 'Just another club advertising, I guess..' She looked at the poster that was hanging on the table.

"..Seiren Basket Club", she read it out loud. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. She looked at it a few more second before it finally hit her head. "THERE IT IS! THE BASKET CLUB"

At full speed, she dashed to the table where a high school girl and boy were sitting. She managed to stop right before she crashed on the table. Because of the sudden acceleration, she was breathing quite heavily. The girl and the boy, sitting across the table, are just staring at her perplexed.

When Arisu stopped breathing heavily, she looked at them and realized how awkward it really is. She decided to break the ice.

"Um, is this the basket club?", she asked with a voice a bit softer she normally speaks with.

"Ah! Yeah, welcome! Sorry about that. Are you interested in basket? We lack a manager, but I think you could do it. Are you interested?", the brown-haired girl asked. Arisu looked at the brown-haired girl a bit confused. Her hair is short. It barely brushes her jaw-line, but it made her cute in her own way.

"Um, not really. I was wondering if I could become a player..?", she asked a bit baffled.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any girl team. However I think-"

"No! Please! I really want to play!", Arisu rudely interrupted. Both of the high school senior don't know what to say to this strong-minded girl. Why is she so desperate to play basketball?

"Anyway, sit down first. Then we can talk a bit more", the guy with glasses asked. He has short, black hair. But except that, he looks pretty normal. She looks at him and nodded. She realizes that she had clenched her fist together that they almost got pale. She released it slowly.

She sits down and the brown-haired girl gives her a cup of tea. She drinks it in one go.

"I'm Aida Riko, the coach for the basket team. And this is Hyuga Junpei. What's your name?"

"Sato Arisu"

"I assume that you have played some basketball before, Sato-san?"

"To be honest, I don't have any experience on basket", Arisu sheepishly answers.

Riko and Hyuga looks at her dumbfounded, like a brick just got thrown into their faces. What's with this girl?

"However, I did play when I was younger"

"Well, that's something.." Riko slowly trails off. "Then, why do you want to join the basket club?"

"Um, I didn't get the chance to do it in middle school. It was only a basket club for boys. And there aren't a lot of girls who wants to play basketball, so they didn't bother making a team for girls..", Arisu speaks forlornly. "Also, this is my last chance to play basketball. I always wanted to do it. But because of I'm a girl; people look down at me and think it's stupid that I want to play such masculine sport! I don't care if I have to train like a guy, I can do it! Just let me play basketball!", she pleaded.

Both of them are stunned at this unwavering girl. She can't just give up basket. No, she can't. This is her last opportunity. If she can't play basket now, when is she ever going to do it? After high school? No, it's too late then. Arisu could feel her heart-beat beating stronger during this silence.

Suddenly, Riko's eyes are filled with joy and sparkles. Before Arisu could dodge, Riko launch at her and hugs her tightly.

"Oh my god, I have never seen a girl like you! So determined and..and..just so.." Riko sobs.

"Uh.. Riko, you are crushing me.."

"I have decided! I will let you join!", Riko declares.

"EHHH?", Hyuga screams. "But, Riko, are you sure?"

"What, it's not against the rules or something"

"Well, true, but.."

"Then it's decided! Just write your name, student number and what middle school you came from", Riko says and released the gray-haired girl from the hug.

Arisu can't believe it. She is dumbfounded and looks at both of them because she can't really believe it. She just got in the basket club. Something she always wanted in her entire life.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!", Arisu brightly answers. She smiles from the bottom of her heart to them and starts writing her application form. 'I can't believe they are letting me play. It sounds too good to be true'

When she is done writing, she gives her paper to Riko.

"Sato Arisu.. First year student..", Riko reads it quickly until she abruptly stops.

"Wait, you went to Teiko Middle school?"

"Yeah, however, I wasn't allowed to join the basket club. So I did something else", Arisu respond.

"I see", Riko mutters. "Well, you're good! Meet us in the gym after school!"

"Sure!"

Arisu walks away happily. She can't believe it! She got into the basket club. She wonders how the guys are going to react when they realize they have a girl on their team. Oh well, that's something else to look forward to.

Little did she know; that she walked past a blue-haired boy who was immersed in a book.

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**A/N** Nothing much going on. Just introducing Arisu and some of the main characters! I hope you enjoyed this short chapter!

Until next time!


	2. The Three Little Pigs

Oh my god, I didn't expect people to already review, put on story alert and favorite my story! It really makes me happy, deep down in my kokoro (sorry, my humor sucks). It really motivates me to write if people are reading my story. Thank you!

I probably sound selfish right now, but review please! I want your opinion about this. What do you guys like/dislike about this? Any comments or critics? Bring it on!

Now, please enjoy this chapter!

**DISCLAIMER: Kuroko no Basket belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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Chapter 1: The Three Little Pigs

Sato Arisu

"Alright class, make sure to read from page 10 to 24 as homework!", the teacher said.

"What, no way.."

"Why do we get homework on the first day?"

"Eh, so boring"

People groaned and complained.

"Looks like another year of misery and pain is starting", Arisu muttered to herself. The class just ended and it is now lunch. There were still a good few more classes before meeting in the gym. However, she was a bit worried. Not because of the basket club, but getting some friends. Some people were lucky that some of their old friends from middle school were here. While others were lucky to hit it off just as the school started.

_'Well, it doesn't hurt to make any new friends right?'_, she thought.

The gray-haired girl stood up and got her lunch box which her father made this morning. She is living with her father and an older brother. Her mom is working and rarely comes home. But Arisu has never been bothered about that. The lunch box is wrapped in red cloth and it followed with a fork. Even though Arisu is ethnic Japanese, she never got used to chopsticks, no matter what she did. So she always ate with a fork. She did get a couple of stare and people asking if she was a foreigner.

She walked out of the crowded classroom and went outside. She figured eating lunch outside isn't that bad at all. It's pretty sunny outside. She looked around and it was pretty much deserted.

_'As expected, everyone is eating inside'_

Then she heard some noises.

She looked around to see if anyone was nearby, but there was no one. Obviously the sound didn't come in front or behind her. She quickly dismissed the noise and decided to walk around the school.

Just as she was about to turn around a corner, she heard people bickering.

"You're a freak!"

"What's with your glasses? You look so nerdy"

"You look so tiny. Do you even eat?"

Arisu saw a group of people. It looked like they were surrounding something or someone. She walked up to them, wondering what they were doing.

_'Maybe they are playing a game or something?'_

Arisu arrived and they were still crowding. She lets out a sigh and scratches her neck out of habit.

"What are you guys doing?", she questioned.

The crowd turned around looking surprised. There were five girls. The first thing Arisu noticed that the girls had pretty hairstyles. It must have taken a lot of time. One of them curled every micro hair on her head. Arisu couldn't do that even with lots of hours of practice. But it's not like she wants to know how to do it. She is just impressed at them for being able to wake up early to do that.

But what perplexed her more was they were surrounding a raven-haired girl. She was petite and a head shorter than Arisu. She was wearing glasses and held her orange lunch box close to her chest. She looked shy and on verge of crying. In front of her, stood a taller girl who had orange wavy hair that reached her waist. She was just a few inches taller than Arisu. The first thing she noticed was how weird her face looked. She couldn't put a word on it, it was just strange.

Everyone was looking at Arisu. They were shocked and angry at the same time.

"Who the heck are you?!", the orange girl yelled.

Arisu raised her eyebrows slightly. "It's rude asking someone's name without saying yours first", she answered nonchalantly.

The orange gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Did you drop your head when you were an infant or something? Fine, if you insist, I will tell you", she proudly said. "In middle school, I was the captain of the volley team and called the goddess. I know how to cook, dance and sing. My father owns a company, so I'm really rich. My grades are also one of the best. I received over 800 love letters during my third year. Are you surprised? You will be even more surprised when you hear my name. That's right, my name is-"

"I'm Sato Arisu. Nice to meet you"

The orange girl twitched her eyes.

"What's wrong with you?!"

"You were taking so long to just say your name. So I just went ahead and said mine"

"You're such a stupid and dull girl!"

Arisu just laughed and waved her hand to dismiss her insult. Then suddenly, someone gripped her uniform and raised her up.

"How dare you be rude to our goddess, Kanashimi Meiko-sama?!", a girl shouted at her angrily. Arisu blinked at her a few times before smiling.

"No need for violence. But you are pretty strong. You just lifted me up with one hand!", she observed.

"Don't you dare mock me!", she threw her hand back and was about to hit until Arisu pinched the girl's forearm. The girl yelped in pain and released her. She rubbed her forearm a few times and looked up angrily. But when she looked up, the girl was no longer smiling. She was glaring at them.

"Eeek!", the girl backed away fast.

Everyone is shocked. A second ago, she was just an annoying and clueless girl. But now, she was a total different person. The air got cold all of sudden and the bullies were frozen in place. The silence was crushing and heavy until they couldn't take it anymore.

"WITCH!"

"SHE IS A DELIQUENT"

"HER GLARE IS SO COLD"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

All the bullies except Meiko ran away from the scene. "Wait, you guys! Don't leave me alone!", she shrieked. Slowly, she looks back at the Arisu who was still glaring. Meiko started to sweat.. a lot.

"God, finally they are gone. They were so annoying", Arisu ranted.

"Eh, what..?", Meiko looked at her in disbelief.

Arisu ignored the confused girl and turned to the shy girl. It looks like she scared her so much that she didn't dare to look up and see her eyes. She sighed and scratched her head. Then, Arisu smiled to the shy girl with the brightest smile she could.

"Sorry about that, are you okay?"

"Um, y-yeah! S-s-sorry for the trouble..", the flustered girl answered.

"What's your name?"

"M-my name?"

"Who else am I asking?"

"M-my name is Honda Suzume"

"I'm Sato Arisu, just call me Arisu. By the way, Suzume, why are you so uptight?"

"E-eh, S-Suzume..?"

"Yeah, something wrong?"

"N-no, nothing.. I'm sorry. M-my mom said that I should be very polite to strangers. "Suzume waved her hands around to control her embarrassment.

"Those are obvious, but relax a bit! You're making me nervous without any reason!", Arisu remarked.

Out of nowhere, Suzume's stomach started to rumble and made a loud noise. Her face was flushed with deep scarlet color and she used her hands to hide her face.

"It sounds like you're hungry. I'm pretty hungry too, so let's eat", Arisu grinned. "And you.. Kana…Mei….something", she pointed at the orange haired girl.

"It's Kanashimi Meiko!"

"Whatever, why is your face so funny-looking?"

"Funny-looking?..", Meiko annoyingly twitched her eyes. "IT'S MAKEUP, YOU STUPID GIRL"

"Really? I mean, your cheeks are really pink", Arisu laughed.

"Can't you just shut up for a minute?!"

"Anyway, come and eat with us"

Meiko was stunned at first, but her emotion changed after a few seconds to anger. "Why should I eat with people like you? You are so stupid and naïve. You think everything can be fixed by just eating lunch together? What are you, five-years old or something? No way am I eating with someone like you!", she yelled.

The next moment, all three of them were sitting on a bench and eating their lunch, with the exception of Meiko who was still angry. Suzume was uncomfortable with the situation that she kept fiddling with her chopsticks. Arisu wasn't bothered at all and just ate. She glanced at Meiko who isn't eating. She didn't even have a lunch box.

_'Did she forget to buy food?'_

"Why aren't you eating anything, Meiko?"

"I'm on a diet!"

"Diet? That's lame"

A vein just popped in Meiko's face.

"Shut up!"

"T-the two of you, p-please stop arguing..", Suzume whispered.

Meiko snorted before looking away. She glanced at Arisu a few times, with a confused emotion.

"I've been wondering about something, Sato-san. Why-"

"Arisu"

"What?"

"Call me Arisu. You guys are my friends now, so it is alright to call me by my first name", she stated.

"UGH, FINE", Meiko cried out." Arisu-san, why are you so friendly with me? Moreover, you scared my friends off too! And you!", she angrily pointed at Suzume. "Honda Suzume, why are you being so quiet about this? Shouldn't you resent me?!"

"W-well.. It wasn't fun being picked on..H-however..", Suzume said nervously. "I-I don't think you're a bad person, Kanashimi-san..", she quietly finish.

Meiko widened her eyes. It didn't look like she believed in what she said.

"Just like Suzume said, I think you're a good person too", Arisu voiced out. "Moreover, those people you called 'friends'.. They do not deserve to be called friends, but cowards"

Meiko looked at her in surprise.

"They just ran away without thinking about you. I may be naïve, however, I know the difference between true and fake friends", she said.

Meiko froze in place. She didn't know what to say, so she stayed just quiet.

"What club did you guys join?", Arisu asked to change the topic.

"W-well, the gardening club", Suzume said quietly.

"..Track", Meiko answered.

_'Wait a minute..'_

"What? Meiko, didn't you say that you were the captain of the volley team in middle school? Why change club?"

"..O-oh..D-did I..?", Meiko nervously trailed off.

"Y-you lied, didn't you, Kanashimi-san?", Suzume asked quietly. Meiko widened her eyes and looked a bit pale. She began to sweat.. a lot.

_'IT WAS A LIE?!'_

"EH, I REALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE THE CAPTAIN OF THE VOLLEY TEAM?"

"Well, I kind of lied.."

"Whaaaaaat?..", Arisu pouted.

"Sato-san, you really did believe everything she said..", Suzume said.

Arisu scratches her neck in embarrassment. "… Anyway, let's go back to class. I think they are starting soon. Oh yeah, I'm in 1-B, what about you guys?"

"Same here.."

"I'm in 1-B too"

"Perfect, let's go then!", Arisu raised up and walked. The others trailed after her slowly.

"You two are so slow, come 'on! We are going to be late!"

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A/N Yeah, I know! You are probably thinking: "Kagami and Kuroko is not here, whaaaaaaat?" Sorry about that! But, they will come soon ;)

I tried to be funny with this chapter. If you didn't catch any of the humor, I'm sorry. I'm really terrible at being funny, haha!

This chapter was actually much longer! However, it got too long and the next scene didn't flow really well. So I had to split it. But I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I want you opinion :)


	3. Don't underestimate me!

**Man, this one is really late, I am terribly sorry for that! I was debating for a few days on how to write this one. I wanted it to be different from the series, but not completely different. So it took longer to write this one. As a reward for waiting so long, I made this one longer :)**

**Also, thanks for the review, story-alerts and favorites! It really makes me happy :D**

**I just gotta warn you guys that I may have terrible grammar in this chapter (and the others). ****I'll stop babbling and let you guys read the next chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER: Kuroko no basket belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.**

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Chapter 2: Don't underestimate me

Aida Riko

Riko had a feeling. This year, they are going to hit big with the basket club. Not only had they got one of the Generation of Miracles, but also a player from America. This couldn't get any better.

'I wish I just paid more attention to who turned the application form! Then I could have seen which one of the Generation of Miracles came to our school! It sounds too good to be true!', she scratches her head furiously.

Riko was inside the gym. She and the rest of the basketball club were besides her, waiting for those freshmen to come in. Riko had hoped she would get a lot of new members, so they could expand their team with more reserve players. Seiren had a team with good players, but they lacked good reserve players. When the new member got here, they all lined up and waited for further instruction.

'It's not a bad amount of people joining considering we only made this club last year, but still.."

When Riko briefly looks at everyone, she notices the grey-haired girl from this morning. She was standing alone, not interacting with others.

'Wait, isn't that Sato-san? The only girl who wanted to join the basketball club?", Riko studied her.

She was easily taller by a few centimeters and her hair was longer than Riko's. It was grey, a rare hair color. Riko thought it was weird of her; that she wanted to be a player. Most girls usually would apply for a manager job for sports where majority of people are guys. There's a lot of reason for that, but the most common reason is because it is uncommon.

"Quite lively here, right?"

Riko turned around to see who talked to her. It was Izuki, the point-guard for the team.

"Yeah, I have a good feeling that we will get many good players this year, Izuki-kun!", Riko smiled brightly. In the background, she could hear some of the freshmen talking.

"Hey, isn't the manager cute?"

"She is a second year, right?"

"Yeah, if she only was more sexier"

"But look at the girl to your far right. She is pretty darn cute too!"

"She is a bit plain, in my opinion"

"What, you must have bad eyesight. But is she going to join the basketball club? I thought it was only for boys"

"Maybe she is applying for the manager position?"

"But isn't that cutie over there the manager?"

They were interrupted by Junpei who smacked their heads. "Idiots, you're wrong".

'Hah, I will show those freshmen who is the boss', Riko smirked evil. She walked closer to those two who were bickering about her and stood in front of them.

"I'm the boy basketball club's coach. Aida Riko, nice to meet you!", she cheerfully said.

"EHHHHH?!"

'Their reaction is so priceless'_,_ Riko had to hold back her laughter.

"It's not him?", asked one of them.

"That's our advisor, Takeda-sensei"

Takeda was sitting on a chair and smiled when he heard his name. Their faces got even more flabbergasted. It is uncommon to have a female coach because most coaches are male. But Riko could care less. She was having fun seeing the freshmen's reaction.

'I'm enjoying this more than I thought'

"Well then, first...Take off your shirts!", Riko smirked.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! WHY?", everyone yelled.

"Don't be a wimp, just do it", someone said.

Everyone looked around to see who talked, including Riko. It turns out it was that Sato that spoke.

'Right, I forgot we had a girl'

"If you guys aren't going to do it, I'll just go ahead" Then she started pulling her shirt and all the guys started to blush furiously.

'She is really pulling up her shirt!'

Riko rushed to her and stopped her before she went any farther.

"Just wait a minute, Sato-san!", Riko shouted. Sato looked at her and blinked at few times. She was just halfway before she revealed her chest. The guys were still red-faced and atmosphere was just awkward.

'Does she has any shame?!'

Riko sweat-dropped, turned around and glared at the boys. She emitted the darkest aura she could. She had to admit, she was good at this.

"Turn around, boys. If any of you are looking, I will increase your training five times"

Everyone obeyed and turned around. It seems like they didn't want to take the chance to be caught.

"You can take off your shirt now, Sato-san"

"Eh, okay. I still don't know why you stopped me a moment ago"

'Maybe because of you were about to reveal yourself in front of the guys?!'

Sato pulled her shirt up and Riko analyzed her physical points.

"She is a D-cup…" Riko muttered under her breath. It's not like Riko is unconfident in her body, but more like she hates having a small chest. She has always envied people with large breast. Riko was already the-most-unfeminine-woman-you-could-ever-see. When she gets the opportunity, she tries to show her feminine sides for the boys, although she wonders why it never works. She knows she doesn't look like Kim Kardashian, but still, her looks can't be that bad?

Riko envied Arisu. Not because of her look, but how she could be the only girl in the basket team and don't care. Riko felt a bit underhanded in a team full of boys sometimes, but she was curious why Arisu couldn't care less being in a room full of boys staring at you. And also she was jealous of her breast size.

She rubbed her head in jealousy. Sato looked at her till Riko realized what she was doing and laughed awkwardly before returning to business.

'..She is.. pretty weak.. Her arms looks like they barely could hold a brick', Riko remarked. 'However, her leg is quite the contrast. They are showing a high number for some reason. Also, it doesn't seem like she weights a lot either. But the strange thing is, I can't see her potential..'

"You are quite weak. I suggest you do at least a hundred pushups every day"

"One hundred?!"

"It's not much .You can put on your shirt now and stand aside while I examine the boys"

Sato nodded and put on her shirt.

"Um, coach?", Izuki asked. "Why are you inspecting her? Isn't she going to be our manager?"

"What are you talking about, Izuki-kun? She is going to be one of the players", Riko answered.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?", everyone yelled out.

"But she is a girl!"

"Girls can't play basketball!"

"I bet she's just going to complain"

The first years began to talk about her, though it wasn't positive things. Riko began getting pissed.

'Those stupid-headed boys..!', she thought. Before she got to say anything, Sato beat her at it.

"What are you guys talking about? "Girls can't play basketball'? Tsk, who made that stupid rule?!", Sato snapped at them

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, I'm a girl! Do you have any problems with that?!"

The boys were too shocked to say anything. Riko was speechless too. But she forced herself to regain her composure. Although she was mad at them, right now was no time to be yelling at them. She will just punish them later.

"Enough! Boys, off with your shirts!"

They hesitated, but did what she said and removed their shirt. Riko went up to them to inspect them much closer. To be honest, they were quite normal. She didn't see any particular talents those she inspected. However, she commented on what they needed to improve at. Suddenly, she stops at the red-haired guy and became dazzled at him.

'Wha-..'

"What?", he asks.

'What the hell? These numbers are far above everyone else's.. This isn't normal stats of a boy in first year of high school', Riko observed. ' I can't even estimate his potential. This is.. natural talent!'

Riko has never seen anything like this before. It's only one in a million.

"Coach, what are you daydreaming about?", Junpei snapped out of her thoughts.

"Sorry!"

"You have looked at every one of them now. That guy was the last one"

'Wait, what about that guy from the Teiko?!'

"Really..? Um, is Kuroko-kun here?"

"Ah, that one from Teiko", Junpei said.

'I thought I would have spotted a guy like him immediately..'

* * *

Sato Arisu

Arisu was still mad at those boys patronizing her like that. But what comes from being pissed at them? It only makes it creates a bad atmosphere among the team. She's glad that Riko decided to stop them. Arisu decided that she will just show them that girls can play basketball like a guy.

Right now, Riko tried to find this person named Kuroko. Supposedly, he is one of the Generation of Miracles, according to Junpei.

'Generation of Miracles..', Arisu narrowed her eyes. A strong basket team that was undefeatable. She heard of them; they were a strong team. She went to the same middle school as them. They were quite the hot topic.

"It looks like he isn't here today..", Riko sounded disappointed. "All right, let's start with the practice!"

"Um, excuse me", a blue-haired spoke up. "I'm Kuroko". Riko was beyond surprised and yelled out. Arisu widened her eyes out of surprise. She had to admit: she was a bit surprised too. She did see this blue-haired boy when he walked in the gym, but she never saw him after that. He just 'disappeared'. Now, he just suddenly appeared again.

Kuroko was surprising to see. Not only because of his low presence, but he just.. looks normal. Arisu had imagined guys from the Generation of Miracles to be tall, have big muscles and have a monster aura. Kuroko was completely the opposite. He had no visible muscles and he was short too.

"What? When did you get here?", Junpei screamed out.

"I've been here the whole time", Kuroko remarked.

She thought she would get excited to see the member from the Generation of the Miracles, but she got even more disappointed. He looked much weaker than her. Arisu knows she is weak and hates admitting that. But, anyone can see that he is not athletic.

"What? This guy is a part of the Generation of Miracles?", someone asked. "He couldn't have been a regular"

"Of course not. Right, Kuroko-kun?", Hyuga asked.

"I played in games", Kuroko simply said.

"Right!..what?..WHAAT?!"

'However, it would be foolish of me to judge him by the appearance. If he is indeed the member of the Generation of Miracles, he must have some tricks in his sleeves'

"Take off your shirt!", Riko demanded.

"What? Okay"

He took off his shirt and Riko inspected him. Several seconds went by and she didn't say anything. However, they didn't need Riko's analyze. They could already see that he was weak. Suddenly, Riko turned around without saying anything to Kuroko.

"Let's start practicing!"

'..What just happened..?', Arisu wondered.

* * *

'This is..hell..'

The training was hard. Arisu has never gotten exhausted like this. Her face was green and she was about to throw up. Riko made them run twenty laps around the school and Arisu has never been good at endurance training. On top of that, the weather was humid and hot. It didn't make the situation any better for her.

She was breathing heavily after finishing running. As expected, most people were way ahead of her and finished early. They took a break while waiting for the remaining people to finish running.

"See, I told you. She is barely surviving just after running around the school"

"She looks like she is about to pass out in any seconds"

"No matter what, girls can't play basketball"

Arisu clenched her hands in anger. She wanted to say something, but bit her lips. This isn't the first time she has experienced people insulting her. Every time she played basketball, people would always say something horrible to her. She knows it's no use to insult back. It would just make the matters worse.

'I swear..I will not give up! I won't whine about how hard the training is. I'll do my best and continue..", she clenched her eyes and gritted her teeth.

Then, she felt something cold against her cheeks and yelped in surprise. She looked up and noticed that it was Kuroko who was right beside her. He was holding a bottle of water and staring at her without a hint of emotion on his face.

"Are you alright?", he asked and held out the bottle of water to her. Arisu took it and consumed the water. But she drank too fast that she had to stop for a moment to cough.

"Yeah, somehow..", she responded while breathing heavily. "Thank you!", she grinned at him.

"It's nothing. Also, don't mind them", he said.

Before Arisu could say anything, she heard a whistle.

"Everyone, break is over! We will continue practicing inside the gym!", she yelled out.

"Let's go", he started walking and Arisu did the same.

* * *

The practice was over and everyone was going home. Arisu, however, was pondering on how to even move. She was completely stiff as a stick and tried not to puke, right now.

She was pacing through the street quietly, not in the mood of smiling to the people passing by her. She thought playing basketball would be easier, but it wasn't. The training Riko made her go through was, bluntly speaking; too-overwhelming-for-a-human-nature. Arisu isn't the type to give up so quickly, but damn, she was so tempted to do that. But the reason she didn't give up, was she wanted to prove those ignorant boys a lesson. Not that it worked, but she hoped that she would prove them otherwise someday.

The dark has descended over the sky and it wouldn't be a good idea to walk alone home. But Arisu was beyond caring. All she wanted to do was to get home, to her home where her father and brother were waiting for her.

"..Show me just how good the Generation of Miracles really is"

Arisu heard someone talk, when she looked to her right, she saw a basket court where two people was chatting. She decided to walk closer to the court to see what was going on.

'I swear, my curiosity is going to kill me one day'

She decided to stop right by the entrance of the basket court. It was tempting to interrupt their conversation, but when she saw who was talking, she decided to stop.

'It's the boy and.. the jerk..', Arisu annoyingly thought.

They were doing one on one. Kagami was dribbling the ball, waiting for the perfect moment to rush inside. When the timing was right, he went in, with his full strength.

Arisu thought Kuroko was going to use some secret basket skills to block it. Only to her disappointment, Kagami went through him easily and again, again and again. Everytime Kuroko tried to score, Kagami would block it easily. It looked like Kagami was bored to death.

'I won't believe that he is that useless. He must possess some special skills!.. I think', Arisu twitched her eyes.

Kagami blocked Kuroko's attempt to shoot the ball and it flew away. As Kuroko was about to get it, Arisu saw Kagami's face. He had enough and he was beyond disappointed.

"You got to be kidding me..", he said when Kuroko came back with the ball.

"Did you hear what I said?! How much do you have to overestimate your own abilities to think you can beat me", he yelled out. "I can't believe how arrogantly you challenged me!"

"Of course you're stronger than me. I knew that before we started", Kuroko simply said.

Kagami grapped Kuroko's shirt and yanked him up of irritation. He looked quite pissed.

"You want to fight?!"

'I think this is the cue to interfere'

Arisu walked to them and it seemed that they didn't notice her. They were absorbed into the arguments.. or more like Kagami yelling at Kuroko's face.

"I just wanted to see how strong you are", Kuroko simply replied.

"What?!"

"Stop it, no need to fight"

Arisu pinched the giant's arm. He quickly released Kuroko and slowly looked at her, with an even more pissed face. Arisu could swear she saw some kind of red aura around him.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Sato Arisu, nice to meet you"

".. What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Now you mention it, I'm not sure why I came here in the first place"

"..The hell is wrong with you.."

Kagami looked at her more closely, and then he realized it.

"You are that woman who smells weird.."

Arisu merely tilted her head and blinked at him.

'Smells weird..?'

"I'm sure that I showered this morning.."

"NOT LIKE THAT, YOU IDIOT"

"Really?", she smiled at him and Kagami rubbed his hair out of frustration. Kuroko was just standing there and watched those two until he decided to join.

"Uhm..", he said while holding the basketball to Kagami. He saw Kuroko and just waved his hand.

"It's enough, I'm not interesting in the weak", he walked to the bench to get his bag and jacket. Arisu watched him closely. She couldn't understand people like him sometimes. The one that have a define line on who are weak and who are strong. She thought no one was weak or strong in term. People have a weak side and a strong side. Some people are smart, but are not physical strong. Others are strong, but not so smart. However, this Kagami person must have some redeeming qualities. She promised herself to give this guy a chance.

'He must have some good traits..right?'

"I'll give both you one last advice.. You should quit basketball"

Arisu looked at him, unhurt from his so called 'advice'. It wouldn't be the first time someone said something like this to her.

"No matter what kind of beautiful things you can say about effort, it's an undeniable fact that you need talent in our society", he continued. "You both have no talents for basketball"

'He really does piss me off'

"Stop saying stuff like that", Arisu said sharply. "I'll admit some people are born with talent, however, talent is nothing if you don't work for it and improve yourself"

Kagami frowned at the girl who was way shorter than her. Arisu absolutely detest people thinking she is weak. She is not weak. She just hasn't been able to show it yet. Before Kagami says anything, Kuroko stands before Kagami.

"I don't accept it either", Kuroko said.

Kagami looks at Kuroko perplexed.

"First of all, I love basketball.. And I don't share your opinion", Kuroko looked at Arisu briefly before returning his gaze to Kagami.

"I don't care who's strong or weak"

"What did you say?"

"I'm not like you.. I'm a shadow"

It was a silence between three of them. Kagami decided to break if by just walking away without saying anything, leaving Arisu and Kuroko alone in the basket court.

"Thanks for standing up for me", Kuroko politely said.

"What..? Oh, that? I owe you from earlier today", Arisu smiled brightly. "Anyway, it's starting to get late, we should go now"

Kuroko just nodded as a response and they starting walking. They walked in silence, which Arisu thought would be uncomfortable since she hates silences. But she didn't really mind this, she just needed it. She was way too tired after Riko's spartan training.

"I'll be going this way now", Kuroko interrupted her thoughts. Before she realized it, they reached a crossway. Kuroko started walking away before Arisu stopped him by holding his jacket.

"That idiot may have said you have no talent in basket and that you were weak.. However, I believe you will show us something amazing soon!", Arisu grinned. Kuroko raised his eyebrows slightly, but not noticeable. He only nodded as a response, but Arisu frowned when he did that.

"Can't you at least smile when I compliment you?"

"I'm sorry, but I do appreciate it"

"I'll seriously hit you if you keep doing that"

"Doing what?"

"All this.. formality and stiff face of yours.. Are you sure you don't have botox in your face?"

".."

"It's really late now, so I'll get going. See you tomorrow, Tetsuya-kun!", she said completely unaffected by Kuroko's reaction for using his first name.

* * *

'Another day of hell..', Arisu said as she sprang to the other side of the gym. At that moment, Arisu realized she hated running more than anything. However, basketball involves running, so there's no other way she could avoid it if she wants to play. Arisu decided that she should stop complaining internally for herself, because it only demotivates her. She slaps herself and keeps running.

Riko blows the whistle and everyone stops in their track to catch their breath.

"Let's have a 5 vs 5 mini-game! Where the freshmen go against the second years", Riko yelled out.

'We are playing?! That's much better than just running back and forth!'

Arisu started smiling just by thinking to play basketball again. The last time she played was in 4th grade. It seems like the others didn't agree with Arisu as they began panicking playing against the second years.

"What? A mini-game?"

"I can't believe we are playing the upperclassmen already.."

"Do you remember what they told us when we joined the club. Their result from last year..", someone said "Last year, with only freshmen, they made it until the final league."

"Are you serious?

"That's not normal"

'What, are they suddenly scared now or something', Arisu frowned. But she had other stuff to think about. This could actually be the chance to prove the coach and everyone in the team that she wasn't some damsel in distress. She hated those characters too. If she shows what she can do in this match, she will win the other's trust.

'But.. I haven't played basketball in forever.. ', she tapped her cheeks. 'Who cares, I'll just go with my instinct as usual'

"There's nothing to be afraid of", Kagami said. "It's always better to have stronger opponents than weak ones"

'There he goes again.. The weak and the strong ones', Arisu frowned.

"Let's go", he finishes.

Everyone started to position themselves. Kagami was going to be the center for the freshmen team. Everyone else started to stand ready for the tip-off. Koganei was guarding Arisu. She didn't know what position she was playing, however, as long she was playing, it didn't matter. She would figure her position later.

As Riko blew her whistle, she threw the ball up. In that moment, Kagami and Mitobe flew up in order to get the ball first. But Kagami was way faster to jump and threw the ball over his side. Kawahara caught the ball and started dribbling to the other side of the court. Everyone was quick to get in their position. Arisu could feel her adrenaline starting to pump. She tried to get past Koganei, but he was keeping a good guard on her.

'Damn, he is stubborn!'

Kagami waved to Kawahara, as a signal that he could throw the ball to Kagami. So he did. Kagami caught the ball, jumped and dunked the ball through the hoop so hard that Mitobe fell even though he is almost tall as Kagami.

"That dunk was impressive"

"Amazing.."

Everyone stared at him in amazement. Arisu couldn't help but be impressed at him.

'He may be an arrogant jerk, but he is really good'

As the game continues, Kagami was the only one scoring. He would always dunk with a destructive power. The score was now 11-8 to the first year. Even though they were winning so far, she was not happy at all.

"Kagami is the only one scoring.. It's unfair", she whined.

Kuroko was holding the ball and looked around to see who to pass to. Arisu widened her eyes when she saw Kuroko.

'Was he playing the whole time?" But she got over her shock when she realized that this could be a chance to get the ball and score.

"Tetsuya-kun, over here!", she screamed. But before he could pass, someone stole his ball and Koganei got it. Arisu tried to steal the ball from him but he passed it to someone else.

'Dammit, almost!'

Arisu ran as quick as she could to stop the ball. Behind her, she could see Kuroko was having trouble catching up.

"Keep going, Tetsuya-kun!", she yelled out to him.

Mitobe got the ball and jumped to score. But before he got to do that, Kagami suddenly jumped really high and stopped him by slapping the ball away.

"So high!"

"Nothing can stop Kagami now"

The freshman was holding high hopes for Kagami. But Arisu knew that she couldn't depend on Kagami all the time.

'I bet the upperclassmen won't just stand still and let Kagami score all the time.. They are going to stop him one way or other..'

Almost as Arisu had 6th sense, the upperclassmen did stop Kagami. Three guys were now guarding Kagami. They weren't going to let Kagami go any further. He tried to get out, but to no avail. Hyuga stole the ball from Kagami and dribbled closer to the goal before scoring a three-point. It was easy to see that Kagami was frustrated. The upperclassmen kept stealing and scoring. When Kagami didn't have the ball, they guarded him with two guys.

'At this rate, we will lose', Arisu stated. The freshmen was depending too much on Kagami that they were starting to lose hope when he couldn't score anymore. As much as she didn't like the guys in her team, she had to cooperate with them in order to win. She walked to the first guy she saw in sight and smiled.

"Pass me the ball when you get it"

"What?!", Kawahara barked. "What are you going to do when you get the ball?"

"I'll think of something when I get it", she smirked. He just looked at the baffled. But he didn't say anymore and Arisu took it as a yes.

The score was now 15-31 to the upperclassmen. Kawahara held the ball and looked at Arisu and nodded to her to signal that he was going to pass. She nodded back.

Kawahara faked a dribble before passing to Arisu. Arisu got the ball and began to dribble towards the hoop. Then she saw Koganei a few meters in front of her trying to defend.

'Do I go right or left..? Screw that, I'll go under'

She threw the ball over him before sliding the floor between his legs. Kawahara didn't expect that. When she got past him, she got up and caught the ball before dribbling again. As she got close to the hoop, she jumped to shoot the ball in.

'Damn, it feels good to show them that I'm not-'

The ball hit the hoop ring and bounced out. The other looked at her in astonishment. For a moment, they thought she was going to score but only got disappointed. Arisu turned around and looked at their faces before laughing.

"Sorry! I missed", she grinned.

Out of nowhere, Kagami grabbed her shirt and yanked her up. He was so angry that he was about to punch anyone who dared to touch him right now.

"How the hell can you miss from that distance?! The hoop was just right in front of you, but you still missed! Are you that stupid?!"

Before Arisu could reply, Kuroko pushed his knee against Kagami's back knee and Kagami released her shirt by surprise.

"Please calm down"

"You bastard..".

He exploded and tried to hit Kuroko. The freshmen screamed out in fear that Kuroko had guts to go stop Kagami. They tried to calm him down, but they didn't go near him. Arisu was just laughing at the whole situation. She thought it was way too funny.

"Don't get mad. We will just have to score more to win!", she smiled. Kagami slowly calmed down, but he was still mad.

'He sure got a temper..'

Everyone returned to their position and Fukuda was bouncing the ball. Arisu could hear one of the guys yelling out that it's only three minutes left.

'We need to double our score to win'

Fukuda decided to pass to Kuroko out of nowhere. 'Is he passing to Tetsuya-kun?' Arisu was skeptical to what he was going to do. Suddenly, Kuroko threw it, barely touching the ball and it flew over everyone else and it landed in Furihata hands. He jumped and threw the ball inside the hoop. Arisu looked at Kuroko in admiration. She couldn't describe it with words. It was simply amazing.

'Wow, how did he do that?!'

It seems like she wasn't the only one who was surprised. Everyone was. They didn't know where the pass came from. Arisu knew as long the other team didn't know how the passes came from, her team would surely win. She walked to Kuroko and patted his shoulder while grinning at him.

"That was amazing, Tetsuya-kun! Could you pass to me next time? I want to catch your passes too!", she said in excitement.

"Sure", he said in a monotone voice.

Arisu returned to guard Koganei. Mitobe was bouncing the ball and was about to pass before Kuroko stole his ball. Arisu ran past Koganei , who was surprised, towards the other team's hoop. Kuroko passed the ball to Arisu and she caught it. She dribbled to the other side in a lightning speed.

'What is this? I feel so light and fast..'

She dismissed the thought and jumped to shoot the ball. Arisu didn't realize that Izuki had jumped in order to block the shoot.

'Snap, I forgot that he was there..', she hissed. She looked behind Izuki to see that Kagami only had Hyuga guarding him. She smirked and threw the ball on the ground so it bounced under Izuki. Izuki widened his eyes in shock. Kagami caught the ball and jumped over Hyuga before slamming the ball in the hoop.

"Nice one!", Arisu yelled out. Kagami gave her a smile and thumb up. She blinked a few times before smiling back.

'Refreshing to see a smile instead of a frown on his face all the time'

The match Arisu's team scoring because of Kuroko's amazing passes. Before she realized it, they already caught up to the upperclassmen with only one point difference. Koganei had the ball and passed to Mitobe. But was intercepted by one of the freshmen that stole their ball and Kuroko caught the ball. He started to dribble towards the hoop. There were only a few seconds left and they couldn't afford to miss.

"Go, Kuroko", everyone started to cheer and yell for him. Kuroko jumped and tried to shoot the ball in, but the ball bounced off the hoop.

'Dang, he is just as bad as me..', she frowned.

Suddenly Kagami jumped and caught the ball. "That's why I hate the weak!", he yelled out before dunking the ball inside. "You have to make the shot, dumbass!"

Riko blew her whistle and that was the signal that the game has ended. The score was now 38-37. The first year yelled out in happiness. Arisu couldn't help but smile. Suddenly, her leg stopped working and she fell on her butt. Before Arisu got up, she saw a big hand that reaching down for her. She looked up and it was Kagami. "Nice game", he muttered lowly. Arisu smiled and took his hand. He pulled her up and walked away.

'He's not that bad after all..'

Arisu felt someone tapping her shoulder. She turned around and saw Furihata, Kawahara and Fukuda standing in front of her.

"What is it?", she asked curiously.

"I-I just wanted to say that you were amazing in the game... And I'm sorry for looking down at you..", Kawahara apologized.

"I'm sorry too! I never thought that girls could play basketball, but you proved me otherwise!", Furihata commented.

"Yeah, you were amazing!", Fukuda added. Arisu widened her eyes. She was so happy that she could cry.

"Thanks! You guys were incredible too", she smiled at them.

'I knew that I wouldn't regret choosing basketball'

* * *

**And it ends! It seems like the team has accepted Arisu now! Until next time! :D**


End file.
